You Belong With Me - Right?
by Beauty4estGreen
Summary: Jack and Kim have been getting closer - close enough that almost everyone but themselves assume they're a couple. Then Jack's past best friend moves to Seaford. The problem is she's developed a huge crush on him. They reunite and she meets Kim, and instantly feels like she's trapped in Taylor Swift's song "You Belong With Me." But who is in which role, really?
1. 1) New and Late

Kim was running late – again. She quickly closed the door to her mom's car and hurried inside the Seaford High main building. She squinted against the harsh fluorescent overhead lights spilling into her vision.

The hallway was swarming with kids and teenagers, talking and rushing about. Kim ran to her locker and opened it as fast as she could. Once she got all her necessary books, she sighed slightly and combed back her hair with one hand. Catching a glance at her reflection in her locker mirror, she growled slightly at how terrible she looked.

Kim had woken up exactly fifteen minutes earlier. Her brown eyes were bloodshot, with faint purple bags underneath them. Her hair was frizzy and uncombed and her cheerleading uniform was wrinkled. She was positive her breath smelled really bad, too.

She closed the locker door and turned, only to crash straight into someone.

Books and papers went flying. Kim bent down to gather her things. She looked up at the person she'd collided with. She was a tall, thin girl with curly red hair and gray eyes. She picked up her books and smiled. "Hey."

Kim checked her watch and cursed. She shoved her stuff into her open backpack, crinkling several worksheets in the process. "I _so_ don't have time for this. Look –"

The bell rang, cutting her off mid-sentence.

Kim cursed again, and ran up the now-empty staircase.

She burst into her classroom, completely out of breath. Fortunately, her period one teacher never showed up on time, so everyone was standing and chatting amongst themselves, too preoccupied to notice her. She found her seat and punched the guy next to her. He woke up with a start.

"I'm up, I'm up." The boy, Jack, rubbed his eyes blearily.

Kim rested her head in one hand massaged her forehead. "You better be. We better both be if we're gonna make it through the day."

[line break]

_About forty-five minutes earlier_

Janelle stood outside the main building of Seaford High School, thinking, t_his is it._ Butterflies were turning her stomach into a nervous mosh pit. Taking a deep breath, she walked inside.

The inside looked exactly like your typical high school. There was a big stairway right in front of her, flanked by two hallways. The walls were lined with blue lockers.

She went to the office and gave her name to the woman at the front desk. She greeted her warmly, and gave her map and her class schedule. She circled all of her classrooms on the map for Janelle, and also handed her several notes to give her new teachers. Janelle tucked them into her back pocket and went back into the hallway.

After studying the map carefully, Janelle started down the right hallway. Just as she past by, a girl slammed her locker shut and walked right into her.

The girl dropped her things, and they both bent to pick them up. Janelle's eyesight was a bit blurry without her glasses, but she could tell that the girl was very pretty. She had blonde hair, a blue cheerleading uniform, and a pink backpack. Janelle handed her the books and said, "Hi."

The cheerleader checked her watch. "I _so_ don't have time for this. Look –"

The bell cut her off, which Janelle was kind of grateful for. She was sounding a bit snotty. As if to accentuate that opinion, she cursed and took off up the stairs without so much as a "thank you" or "sorry for bumping into you." Janelle sighed and went quickly to her first class.


	2. 2) Who's here, now?

**Disclaimer: I do not own the **_**Kickin' It**_** franchise; Disney does. I do, however own my OC.**

Janelle checked which class she was supposed to be in again. It was now the passing between third and fourth period, and she was having trouble figuring out where her new Biology classroom was. She looked around, hoping to find someone who wasn't too busy to help her. She spotted three guys who were leaning against a wall, chatting. None of them looked very hostile, so she walked up to them.

"Hey," Janelle started. All three turned to look at her. Immediately one of them, a tall Latino boy with chains and a leather jacket, swaggered to her and oh-so-slyly slipped an arm around her shoulders. "Yo, what it do, girl?"

Janelle rolled her eyes lightly. She gently shrugged his arm off. "I'm a little lost, can one of you help me find…room 1412?"

The boy slid his hands into his jeans pockets. "Well, you've come to the right place, chica. I know exactly where that is. I'm the swag-master of the halls, yo, the –"

One of his friends, a friendly-looking African-American guy, interrupted. "It's that way," he pointed down the hall. "Jerry and I have Biology around there. Why don't you come with us?"

"Sure."

He grinned and looked behind him. "Catch you later, Milton."

The last boy, a stringy gut with a mop of ginger hair and a sweater vest, nodded. "Later. I'm going to Chemistry with Julie." He hurried into the

The nice boy who'd interrupted the "swagmaster-of-the-halls" gestured for Janelle to follow him. "I'm Eddie, by the way. That's Jerry."

Jerry raised his hand cockily, like he was a rock star pretending to tell his fans to calm down.

Janelle shook her head at Jerry's goofy demeanor. "Janelle. Thanks, by the way. You guys are the first nice people I've run into today."

Eddie stuck his thumbs under his backpack straps as they walked. "Let me guess: bunch of guys in red and black jackets, led by a kid with big curly hair, obviously been held back a few years?"

She shook her head. "No, but I'll keep an eye out for them. It was a snotty cheerleader."

"Did she have long, beautiful, silky brown hair?"

"Long and silky, yes. Brown, no."

"Oh, good."

Jerry pitched in. "Hey, our friend Kim's a cheerleader. But she's really nice. At least, uh, if you're nice to her."

Janelle nodded. She respected people with that kind of philosophy.

Eddie stopped her. "Here it is. Room 1412. Jerry and I have Ms. Watson across the hall. Hey, do you want to have lunch with us?"

Janelle smiled. "I would, thanks."

"Great."

Jerry said, "Later." They both left.

Janelle turned and pushed the door open. She was one of the first kids in the classroom. She went to the teacher's desk and explained that she was his new student. After looking over her schedule, he introduced himself as Mr. O'Doherty.

"There's an available seat in the back row, fourth from the left. And welcome to Seaford High, Miss Combs."

"Thank you, sir." Janelle began to work her way through the desks, but stopped short when she spotted someone familiar half-asleep in the front corner of the room. Her heart stopped.

Jack.

Of course, Janelle had known that she'd run into him sooner or later. One of her old friends had told her he'd moved here, but actually seeing him, in the flesh, was so different from anticipating their first meeting in years. He'd gotten so much _older_.

She shook out of her daze, and hurried to her own seat.

Throughout the class, Janelle did her best to pay attention to what Mr. O'Doherty was saying. But her eyes and thoughts kept straying towards the brunet skater in the front row. Every time they did, she re-busied herself with her Biology notes.

The bell rang as Janelle was writing down the homework. Anxious to catch up with Jack, she quickly finished and packed up her books. But when she looked up, Jack was already leaving the classroom. There was no way she'd be able to get to him with him with so many students swarming around between them. She sighed and left to find the cafeteria.

(line break)

If there was one thing that Janelle had learned from many, many unfortunate encounters, it was to always bring your own lunch in case the lunch lady warned you of barely edible food.

It was pretty clear that most of the food wasn't food just from one glance at the lunch line, so Janelle hung around the edges of the room waiting for Eddie and Jerry to make an appearance. They finally showed, along with that nerdy-looking kid Milton, and she followed them to what must've been their regular table. A chorus of various greetings arose as she sat down.

Milton stuck out his hand to her. "I don't think we've officially met: Milton Krupnick, modern Einstein, ex-football star, Scripts National Spelling Bee finalist and boyfriend to the coolest girl in the school." Janelle raised her eyebrows, but shook his hand anyway.

"Janelle Combs: Blue belt, movie-fanatic, and industrial revolutionist in the makings."

Milton raised his eyebrows. He was clearly impressed. "You do karate."

"Hm-hm."

Jerry leaned back. "You should totally come join our dojo. It's the best in town."

"Well except for –" Eddie began to correct him.

Jerry glared at him. "Yo, Kim, _the Kim Crawford_, left the Black Dragons to join _us_. They're not the best without her."

Janelle whistled. She took out a ham and cheese from her lunch bag. "Wow. Where is this famous Kim?"

"Probably with Jack." Jerry told her. "Yo, can I get some of that food? It looks like…real food."

She took out a peach and tossed it to him. "Jack. You don't mean Jack Anderson, do you? Brown hair, black belt, hates blue cheese, cannot _live_ without his skateboard?"

Milton looked at her interestedly. "That's the one. Have you met him?"

"Met him? Dude, I knew him better than anyone in the world. We grew up in Burbank together, before I moved to Denver."

"Strange, he never mentioned you." Eddie's eyebrows furrowed. "Come to think of it, Jack doesn't talk about his past much at all. Remember what happened with Kai?"

"That was scary," Milton agreed.

Janelle was meticulously careful not to choke on her sandwich while she swallowed. "I'm sorry, but _what_ was he doing around Kai?"

Jerry said through a mouthful of peach, "Don't worry, chica, Jack's hand isn't broken anymore."

"_What did Kai do?"_

Milton looked alarmed. "Janelle, Jack's fine. Kai isn't anywhere near here."

"Good." Janelle kept eating and tuned out while Eddie changed the subject.

Dang, how much had she missed? What had happened that Kai would break Jack's hand? And why does he never talk about her? Did he just…forget everything?

Janelle really hoped not.

(line break)

Jack blinked, struggling to stay awake.

School was over for the day, and he was leaning against his locker. He stared absently inside it. He couldn't seem to remember what he was supposed to take out.

Despite his best efforts, Jack's mind began to shut down. Confusingly integrated smells of jasmine shampoo and pencil lead, and images of plaid pajamas and stacks of rustling paper filled his subconscious. It was almost peaceful; except his head was resting uncomfortably on a cold metal door, which he was somehow aware of while still dreaming.

A loud, sharp noise shook him back into the fully conscious world. He found that someone was snapping in his ear. Eyes still closed, he grabbed the offending fingers and pushed them away.

It was strange, though. Only one person used to get his attention like that…

Slowly, Jack opened his eyes. Then he blinked several times and rubbed them, convinced that he was hallucinating.

"Janelle?"

His old friend smiled. "It's good to see you, Jackie."

He stood stunned for a minute. Then he threw his arms around her, giving Janelle a brief but firm hug. He pulled away, but left his hands on her familiarly skinny shoulders. "Oh my gosh, I can't believe you're here! What happened to Denver?"

She shrugged. "My dad got transferred to Seaford. Why, I have no idea."

Jack shook his head a little in bewilderment, exhaustion momentarily forgotten. He appraised his old friend. He smirked. "You're wearing glasses now. And you got shorter."

She pretended to look affronted. "No way! You just shot up, you giant."

He raised his hands in and _alright, alright_ gesture. "Whatever you say, Janny. I do like the glasses though."

She touched the black plastic rims. "Thanks."

Janelle looked behind him and her eyes flashed with irritation. "Oh, no."

"What?" Jack tried to look around, but his tiredness came back to him in a rush. He almost collapsed.

Fortunately a strong hand caught him under his arm and helped him to his feet again. He looked to see Kim supporting some of his weight, and holding two coffee cups.

"Hey, Kim." Jack rubbed his eyes again.

_**I know, I know, bad place to end. But the next part should REALLY be in Kim's perspective, so I just sort of cut the chapter off here.**_

_**This idea just came to me, and although I'm already in the middle of like three stories, I just had to write and post it.**_

_**Sorry that Chapter One was kind of bad; I completely forgot to edit it before posting.**_

_**As usual, please review! ESPECIALLY if you recognize the name "O'Doherty."**_

_**Love y'all,**_

_**Reyna S.**_


	3. 3) When It's the Girls Who are Clueless

Kim walked into the main hallway, looking for Jack. She spotted him staring blankly into his locker, and began to walk towards him, only to be blocked by Randy.

"Hey, Kim." Randy did a hair flip. "What's up."

Kim didn't have the patience for his flirtatious behavior today. "The ceiling."

He let out a laugh much louder and longer than was really necessary. "That's funny, Kim, so funny. By the way, I'm heading over to skate park on Saturday, and I was thinking that maybe you could come with me, then we'd go out for hot dogs or something afterwards…."

Kim was only half-listening. Jack was talking to the pretty red-headed girl she'd accidentally bumped into that morning. She was wearing glasses now, and they were laughing like they were old friends.

A pang of jealousy hit her in the gut. Kim had only recently begun to admit it, but she had feelings for Jack. For the past several weeks she'd been trying to get him to notice her as more than his best friend, but was getting nowhere. Boys were so incredibly dense sometimes.

Randy was still talking about the date he was imagining. Kim snapped, "I can't Randy, I have plans with Jack." Those seemed to be the magic words; the boy looked crestfallen for a second. She took the opportunity to shove past him and hurried over to Jack and the girl.

Just as she arrived, Jack's knees began to buckle. She quickly grabbed his arm and hauled him back onto his feet. He looked at her with bleary eyes. "Hey, Kim."

"Hey. Who's this?" Kim gestured to the girl.

"Oh, this is Janelle. Janelle, meet Kim."

Janelle gave him a wry smile. "Yeah, we met this morning. We sort-of missed the name-exchanging part." Her grey eyes flashed at Kim. Kim was taken-aback by her obvious hostility.

Jack didn't notice anything. "Janelle and I were totally tight back when I lived in Burbank. You know, she'd the one who moved to Colorado the year before I came here?"

Kim realized Jack had already told her a lot about the girl. "Oh, _you're_ Janny, that's right. Cool." Kim turned towards Jack and handed him one of the Starbucks cups she was holding. "Here, I got you some coffee."

Jack's brow furrowed. "When did you have time to get this?"

"Actually, I paid Marge the lunch lady to buy it for me after lunch. I figured we'd both need some caffeine." Kim took a sip from her latte. "So, my house, four o'clock?"

Jack played with his coffee nervously. "Look, I'm really tired, so can't we just…" He trailed off at the look she was giving him. "Yeah, sure."

"Okay, see you later." Kim gave Jack a hug. "Bye, Janelle."

She swore Janelle gave her a mocking look for a split second. Kim narrowed her eyes at her, and walked to her own locker.

(line break)

Janelle knew that she liked Jack. It was part of the appeal of moving to Seaford.

She'd always been pretty disappointed by how little they'd kept in touch. Just an email here and there, a phone call if she was lucky. Still, they were best friends since they were young. She would've thought that Jack would tell her if he had a girlfriend, and was hurt that he'd failed to mention it. She was definitely hurt more that it wasn't her, but instead a pretty blonde cheerleader.

The Jack she'd known had more _substance_ than that.

What was stranger, though, was that he would stay with her when he was obviously unhappy. Janelle could tell by the weight on his shoulders, the bags under his eyes from who knows how many sleepless nights.

Oh, they weren't going to last. Jack would get fed up with her eventually.

"So," she started. "How long have you, um…known Kim?"

Jack took a drink from his coffee and turned to his locker. "We met when I started here. She was the first person who talked to me – well, besides Marge."

_Well, more information wouldn't hurt_, Janelle thought. She immediately felt her 'friend who's a girl' instincts kicking in. "Really? Do tell. Details, please."

Jack took out a book and closed his locker door, turning to face her. He looked upwards as if recalling the memory. "Well…it was lunch, on my first day. I was asking Marge what I should get. She warned me that even she didn't know what the stuff was. Kim walked inside; she was tossing an apple around, it dropped, and I caught it for her." He snapped his fingers. "That reminds me, don't eat the food here."

Janelle raised her hand. "Lesson learned, years ago. Remember the Macaroni and Pudding incident of fifth grade."

Jack made a face. "I know. Coraima Dickenson hated us for like a month."

"Correction she hated you."

"Hey, _you're_ the one who dared me to eat the stuff."

Janelle laughed. This was familiar territory for them, even if it has been three years. She checked her watch. "You know, you've still got an hour before you've got to meet Kim. Wanna show me around?"

Jack grinned. "I know just the place."

(line break)

Jack and Janelle were walking around an outdoor mall. It was a nice(ish) place, with a lot of different shops and restaurants. There seemed to be absolutely no correlation between the places there; not that Janelle minded. She was getting a free tour from Jack Anderson.

"That's the arcade. Kim and I had an Immortal Slayer showdown in there. Over there is our favorite joint, Falafel Phil's. The food is the greasiest stuff you'll ever find anywhere, but it's great. Right across the way…" Jack led her to a small place with a Plexiglas front and the words _Bobby Wasabi Martial Arts Academy _in lime green letters above the door. "…is the best place in the city, the Bobby Wasabi dojo."

"As in, the guy your grandfather trained for a bunch of movies?"

"The one and only." Jack pushed open the door. Janelle followed close behind him. He announced, "Hey guys, I want you to meet someone."

Jerry, Eddie, and Milton stopped practicing (if you can call it that – they were flailing around a pathetically more like), and turned to look at them. A short man came out of an office in the back.

The man smiled. "Jack, you want to introduce me to your lady friend here?"

Jack grinned. "Rudy, this is Janelle. Janelle, this is my sensei Rudy. And over there, is Milton, Eddie –"

She cut him off. "I already met the guys, Jack. What's up?" She got some hey's in greeting, and the boys tumbling around the mats again. Janelle held out her hand to their sensei. "It's nice to meet you Rudy."

"Likewise. Do you know any karate?"

She shrugged modestly. "A little bit. How good is a blue belt in your books?"

Eddie fell over in her peripheral vision. Jack turned to her looking shocked and impressed. "Really? Nice job, Janelle!" He gave her a big high five. "I remember when you were just a little ten-year-old, trying out her first kicks with your white belt –"

"I'm five months older than you, Jack, I'm not your baby sister."

He held up his hands in surrender. His phone started to ring, and he checked the caller ID. "Oh, it's Kim." He suppressed a yawn. "I've gotta to meet up with her. Rudy, will you show Janelle the ropes around here?"

"Absolutely."

"Great see you guys later." Jack ran out of the dojo, picking up the call as he went.

Janelle watched him go enviously. "Have he and Kim been hanging out together a lot lately?" She asked absently.

Rudy waved his hand like it was no big deal. "Yeah, but considering the circumstances that's no surprise. Come on, let's see what you've got."

Janelle thought to herself, _well, that's a confirmation if ever I heard one._

_**Alright, I'd like to see if I can get ten reviews before I post the next chapter. As soon as ten more appear, it's going up.**_

_**-Reyna**_


	4. 4) Shut Up and Sleep

_**Wow, got like all of the reviews in one night. Thanks for all the support guys!**_

_**Anyway, I realized that I was making Janelle seem pretty snotty in the last couple chapters. So, I'm just gonna clear it up that that wasn't my intention. She cynical, sure, but still a nice person. I was just trying to avoid turning her into a Mary Sue.**_

Kim insisted that they would study in the den. They wouldn't get any quiet in the living or dining room, since her sister was only six, and her bedroom would just be awkward. So she sat on the swivel chair in her pajamas whilst trying not to stare at Jack, who was lying on his back on the couch.

After ten minutes of still coming up with absolutely nothing, Kim swore that she heard Jack snore. She looked up. His eyes were closed. Frustrated, she threw an eraser at him, hitting him straight in the eye.

"Ow!"Jack covered his eye and glared at her with the other. "I'm awake you know."

"Good. 'Cause neither of us are sleeping until we finish what we need to."

"Well, I cannot think of _anything_."

Kim looked at her friend desperately. "Come on, Jack, I don't wanna fail."

"Me neither."

"Well," she looked at the notebook in her lap. "What've we got so far?"

Jack sat up and checked his own notes. "We're about…halfway through the second outline. Why are we doing two outlines?"

"Because the first one sucked."

Jack closed his binder and whacked himself over the head with it. Kim rolled her eyes. "It doesn't have to be that frustrating, Jack."

"I was just trying to wake myself up."

Kim rolled her eyes and yawned. Jack got up from his place on the couch and touched her shoulder. "Kim, you're tired. I'm tired. Let's just get some sleep tonight, okay? We won't do a good job if neither of us can even think."

Kim really, _really_ wanted to protest, but one look into his brown eyes and she was a goner. She nodded a little. She started to get up, but stumbled. He caught her.

An idea formed in Kim's head. "Jack," she started hesitantly. "I don't think I'm gonna make it to my room tonight…can I just…" She stared longingly at the couch.

In the back of her mind she registered that Jack was smirking a little. "Yeah, sure." He lay down, snuggling himself into the couch cushions to make room for her. She cautiously lay down with her back to him, pulling the blanket he'd been using over them. She turned off the lamp and closed her eyes.

She tensed a little when she felt Jack's arm slide around the waist, his hand settling on her abdomen. His head shifted so it was closer to hers. "Relax." His breath of hot on her neck, and Kim found herself dozing, falling into the sweet realm of sleep that she hadn't seen nearly enough for the past several days. The last thing she was aware of was Jack's body heat against her back.

_**Short, I know, and it's a bit of a filler chapter, but it's still important.**_

_**As always, please review! I devour them like pickles.**_

_**Love y'all,**_

_**-Reyna S**_


	5. 5) Can I Punch Paranoia in the Face?

**Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to '**_**Kickin' It'**_** or '**_**Graceling'.**_

Janelle was doing her homework at the kitchen table. She could smell steaks cooking from the open outside porch of her new apartment, under her mother's meticulous supervision. Her twin brothers played loudly with their toys in the living room. Her dad wasn't home yet. He wouldn't be for an hour or so.

She did her best to focus on her English. Since she'd moved out of state, her teacher had thought that giving her a "crash course" would be beneficial to her grade. It basically meant that she was self-studying the material she'd missed for each month, and then would complete one assignment for each section. It was going to be two weeks of work, on top of the normal load that her classmates had.

Homer had little interest for Janelle at that moment, though. It wasn't as though she couldn't handle her homework; she was naturally an organized person. But her thoughts kept drifting back to Jack and that girl, Kim Crawford.

It was clear that they were together. A blind person could've seen it. Their body language was substantially more open with each other; the way they talked was as though no one else was around.

Janelle had long since admitted to herself that she was in love with Jack. But she knew could've accepted him being with another girl, forget about it and move on. This was not the case with Kim. Janelle had watched as the other girl refused to take no for an answer from her boyfriend. She had this perpetual intensity in her eyes and demeanor that was very dominating, in addition to an air of stubbornness about her. She had to be an overwhelmingly demanding girlfriend.

Janelle recalled the tired look on Jack's face, and wondered if it was stress from such a dynamic relationship that kept him from sleeping. He looked so unhappy. But it appeared that his devotion to Kim overcame his other emotions and kept him going, as if he was searching for whatever had drawn him to the girl in the first place.

That was his weakness. Ever since they were kids, Janelle had seen a spark in her friend that could blow up into an out of control fire. Sometimes it was his temper; most times it was his unwillingness to give up, even when he really should. She'd watched it turn into a sickness before, and she'd be damned if it wasn't happening again.

Janelle mentally slapped herself. Mrs. Abraham's words echoed in her head; _Stop overthinking. Don't jump to conclusions. Be patient._ She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, in and out, in and out.

She would give Kim a chance. She would watch, observe, and be there for her friend. But Janelle swore up and down that if it turned out that girl was poisoning Jack's life, she would do everything in her power to discontinue their relationship and save him.

_**[line break]**_

The next day was a Saturday morning. Janelle was an early riser by habit, so at nine o'clock she was curled up in her bean bag chair, fully dressed and reading her favorite book, _Graceling_. In a couple hours she'd be going to the dojo; Rudy had given her the paperwork for joining, and she filled it out the night before.

Halfway through the book her cell phone began to ring. Checking the Caller ID, she frowned at the unfamiliar number. She answered. "Hello?"

"Is this Janelle Combs?"

"Yeah."

"Hey, it's me, Kim. We met the other day."

Sharp resentment flashed through Janelle's gut. She closed her eyes for a few seconds, cooling down before cautiously replying. "Oh, hi. How…how did you get my number?"

"I found it in Jack's contacts. " _So, she's a snooper_. "Listen…I've heard a lot about you from Jack, and yesterday it was a relief to finally place a face to the name."

She couldn't help the flutter in her stomach. "He talks about me?"

"Yeah, I could write a book with all the stories he told me." _Not a backhanded threat_, Janelle told herself. "So anyways, you want to meet for coffee next weekend? There's a Starbucks at the mall, close to Falafel Phil's."

Janelle was slightly taken aback. "Um…sure, I guess."

"Next Saturday at eight-thirty? Sorry if that's too early, I almost never sleep in."

"Nah, that's fine. See you then."

"Bye." Kim hung up.

Janelle snapped her phone shut and stared at it for a minute. She wondered if Kim was for real. It could be her paranoia getting to her, but she got the feeling that Kim's motivation for trying to get to know her was to determine how much of a threat she was.

Or maybe…just maybe, Janelle had misjudged her.

_**Here's chapter 5! I really hope this did not disappoint. I'm not used to writing such short chapters, but this seemed like the appropriate stopping point.**_

_**I've already started Chapter 6. I would like to see if I can get another twelve reviews before that one goes up. (Hint, hint)**_

_**Love y'all,**_

_**-Reyna S**_


	6. Author's Note - Help

_**Okay, you all are gonna want to kill me for a stupid Author's Note, so I'm really glad none of you know where I live.**_

_**Anyways, I'm suffering from writer's block here, but there's no way I'm putting this story on HIATUS like Of Squares and Jerry Dares. So, I'm asking a favor:**_

_**I need as many of you guys to review or PM m ideas for how to go on with this. I can promise that I won't be using ANY ideas copied exactly, I just need additional inspiration.**_

_**PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review/PM!**_

_**Love y'all,**_

_**-Reyna**_


	7. 6) Red, Fights, and Jealousy

Janelle

Four days had gone by and Janelle had barely seen anything of Jack, and nothing of Kim.

On Monday, she'd had high hopes of finding Jack at lunch after History. She really wanted to catch up more with him. But he'd left the classroom quickly again, and was nowhere to be found in the cafeteria. So she'd sat with Jerry, Eddie, and Milton again. When she asked where Jack was, Milton had told her that he was studying with Kim in the library. She'd sighed a little and proceeded to strike up a conversation with him about the upcoming presidential election.

Janelle did notice that although Milton could swallow just about anything, Eddie and Jerry seemed to be starving themselves due to the inedible plastic that barely passed for cafeteria food.

So Tuesday she brought a _Trader Joe's_ bag with sandwiches, apples, pudding cups, and a bottle of raspberry lemonade in it. Jerry and Eddie wolfed it all down at an impressive, but definitely unhealthy speed. Milton cordially thanked her and ate his sandwich. When they were done eating he helped her with her finish last night's Algebra homework. When the bell rang, she asked the guys what kind of burritos they liked. They were so eager at the idea of eating real food more often that they were more than willing to pay her back every day.

So it was now Wednesday, and Janelle was running a little late. Mr. O'Doherty had wanted to talk to her about taking a few tests from before she'd arrived, just to make sure she was completely caught up. She agreed readily; what was a little extra paperwork? They arranged for her to spend fifty minutes testing after school on Fridays for the next four weeks.

When she finally walked into the cafeteria, she was surprised to see that sitting with the guys that day were Kim Crawford, Jack, a pretty girl with caramel ringlets sitting next to Jerry, and another girl, who wearing glasses much like her own. She could only be Milton's girlfriend, if the adoring looks she gave him were any indication.

She made her way over to the table. Milton noticed her first. "Hey, Janelle," he greeted. "Have you met Kim, Julie, and Mika?" Kim turned her head at the sound of her name. Recognition dawned on her face when she saw Janelle.

Janelle ignored her. "Just Kim."

"Well, this is my girlfriend Julie, and that's Mika, Jerry's girlfriend and Falafel Phil's niece."

She shook hands with both of them, and then sat down in the last available seat. It happened to be between Mika and Kim. She took out the burritos. "Okay, guys, I've got the food; pay up." Within a minute, Eddie, Milton, and Jerry were chowing down on the food, while Janelle was stuffing the cash in her purse. She caught Jack's eye, and he raised his eyebrows at her. She motioned she'd tell him later. He shrugged.

Everyone went back to what they were doing before. Milton and Julie seemed to be having some sort of debate; but they kept weaving through different languages, so it was difficult to understand. Eddie and Jerry were oh-so-quietly conspiring their next big prank against the principal. Kim and Jack were talking to each other in hushed tones. All the while, next to her, Mika sat quietly playing with her "food."

Janelle took out her own lunch. "Do you want some of mine?" She asked Mika. "I know this stuff can be…disgusting."

Mika shook her head. "No thanks. I grew up eating Uncle Phil's food; I can eat anything."

Janelle shrugged and began to peel and orange. "So, what's it like back home?"

Mika thought about it for a second. "It's a whole lot louder there. Goats bleating, people shouting, goats and people getting into fights. The streets were always crowded, too; stepping outside the front door is like being attacked by millions of smells." She sighed wistfully. "I miss home sometimes."

Janelle whistled. "And I thought that 1850's London would've been chaotic. Seaford must be really strange to you."

"It is, but I like it here. It's not easy to relax back in Haghmakistan, now I get quiet from time to time. What about you? Jack said you're from Colorado?"

She nodded. "Jack and I used to be neighbors in Oakland, but I moved to Denver when I was eleven." She shrugged. "I'm kind of glad we moved here."

"Don't you miss your friends?" Mika asked.

"A little. There was a pair fraternal twins I hung out with sometimes, but we never really got that close –"

Janelle was cut off by Jack and Kim. They'd been arguing with each other in low voices, but now they were getting too upset to care about their volume.

"Kim, why won't you just let it go?" Jack pleaded with her.

Kim had her arms crossed. "Because you know what the alternative is. I'm not letting all that time and energy to go waste."

"We will be fine."

"Well, I won't!"

"For the last time, it is not the end of the world."

"So you're just giving up?"

"Kim!" Jack seemed to have had enough. "I'm just so sick of it all. Sick of the sleepless nights, sick of the constant headaches. I've decided that it's not worth it! And I can't just keep missing karate practice."

Kim glared daggers at him. "It's not like I haven't made sacrifices, Jack."

"Exactly. You've got cheer and the school news team. Neither of us ever had the time to pull it off." He looked away from her and rested his head in his palm.

Kim's eyes blazed with anger. Without a word, she stood, picked up her backpack and walked out of the cafeteria.

The table was silent after that.

And Janelle cursed herself for feeling satisfied about what she was sure had just been an ugly breakup.

[LINE BREAK]

Kim

Kim walked into the dojo, determined to blow off some steam. She almost always felt better after beating something up when she was frustrated.

Rudy was vacuuming the mats. He looked up, surprised, when he heard her come in. "Kim. You're here early."

Kim made her way to her locker and took out her gym bag. "Yeah, well, I've missed practicing here." She walked to the changing room.

"Is Jack coming?"

Kim paused, her hand on the door handle. "I would think so. I know he's got a lot of homework, though."

"If he doesn't show up today, tell him tomorrow that I'm not excusing him unless he's failing again."

"Got it." She pushed the door open and changed into her gi. When she came out and went to put her stuff back, she noticed a blue spin-dial lock on the locker next to hers. "Hey Rudy, did you recruit another student?"

Rudy looked in the direction she was staring. "Oh yeah. Her name's Janelle Combs. Apparently Jack knew her when they were kids or something."

"Oh. I didn't know she was interested in martial arts."

"She's been recently promoted to blue belt. You guys met at school?"

Kim smiled at him. "I accidentally bumped into her on her first day; I was so tired I couldn't have told you my left from right."

Rudy looked at her with a kind of fatherly gaze. "I assume you're feeling better now?"

Kim shrugged. "Jack gave up, so I guess I am too."

"Well, come on, I don't think you came here early to stand around and talk. Let's get to work."

"Okay." Kim joined Rudy on the mats. They faced each other and bowed, then got into a fighting stance. Then it was on.

About ninety seconds later, Rudy had a couple new bruises and Kim was on the floor. He helped her up. "That was good, Kim."

"I lost," she grumbled.

"I outrank you by two belts, of course you lost." Kim rolled her eyes. She got back into her fighting stance.

Kim began to fall into the rhythm of Rudy teaching her. They would spar, sometimes a little viciously, while Rudy would complement what she was doing, giving her advice whenever she lost or was close to losing. The familiarity of it calmed her.

Eventually she reluctantly asked to take a water break. Rudy went to set up some more dummies while Kim sat down on the bench and drank deeply, wiping sweat out of her eyes.

She looked up when she heard the front door open. Jack and Janelle walked in, talking and laughing like the old friends that they were. It was the first time that Kim had seen Jack so happy since they got what she referred to as "The News". She felt an unexpected pang in her heart when she saw the smile Janelle was giving him.

They stopped when they saw her; the smiles melted off their faces, which made Kim feel even worse. Jack looked uncomfortable. Janelle seemed really confused.

Rudy came out of the closet. He looked at their expressions and sighed exasperatedly to himself. "Don't tell me you two are fighting _again_."

Jack gave him a look, and then went to get his stuff from his locker. Janelle approached Kim. "I didn't know you came here." She said.

Kim quirked an eyebrow. "I've been training here for almost two years, Janelle. I'm the one who should be surprised." She got up.

"No, it's just because you haven't been around since I started." Janelle began to take off her shoes.

Kim walked onto the mats. "You wanna spar?" She saw her eyeing the black belt tied around her waist, and felt a little gratified at her nervousness. Then Janelle seemed to pluck up her courage and shrugged. "Yeah, sure." She took off her glasses and walked up to Kim. They bowed.

At Rudy's _"hajime"_ they began fighting. Kim had to admit that she was pretty good. They attacked and blocked, getting a feel for each other's fighting styles. After a couple minutes, Kim stepped up her game, started faking more, made her punches a little faster. Janelle's eyebrows furrowed as she tried to keep up with her opponent. It quickly got too hard for her, forcing her to go entirely on defense. Kim purposely slowed down for a split second, and Janelle used the interval to try to punch her in the gut. Kim sidestepped and grabbed her fist, twisting it into a wrist lock. She held it for a couple seconds, then quickly let go and hit her with a spinning back kick.

Janelle fell to the ground. She looked up at Kim with a shocked expression. Kim relaxed out of her stance and helped her up.

Trying to compose herself, Janelle asked, "Um, how…how long have you been doing karate?"

"About four years." Kim shrugged.

Janelle narrowed her eyes. "So have I."

Kim didn't know what to say to that. Janelle just walked to the bench and put her glasses back on. She was quickly ushered by Rudy into the sensei's office, and Jack approached Kim, his gi folded in his hands. He said, "You get it all out of your system?"

Kim crossed her arms and stared at the ground, remembering that she was angry with the brunet. Jack raked his fingers through his hair. "Kim I'm sorry. But I just don't think…I don't think I can handle…" He blew out a sharp, frustrated sigh.

Kim looked up at him. She saw the weariness in his hazel-brown eyes. She saw the faint traces of purple under them. She saw his shoulders sagging slightly and the way he seemed to be struggling holding it together. It was a little like looking in a mirror. And it hit her how hard it had been on the both of them.

She wrung her hands. "No, you're right, Jack. I just got so caught up in the idea of a way out, you know? I guess neither of us were really cut out for a project that big, or complicated."

Jack gave her a small smile that made something twist a little in Kim's stomach. "You're really, _really_ stubborn when you want to be."

"Yeah." Kim looked down and smiled in return.

"So we're good?"

"Yeah." Jack went to go change, and Kim could've sworn she saw a flash of dark red hair disappear around the corner. She had a feeling that Janelle was listening in on their conversation; as to why, though, her guess was as good as any.


	8. 7) The Boys See the Light (So Not Fair)

KIM

Kim waited anxiously at Falafel Phil's for Milton to show up. She was at one of their usual tables, picking apart a falafel ball absentmindedly. She couldn't get her mind off of Jack.

Finally her red-headed friend showed up. "Hey, Kim." He slid into the booth opposite her. "I got your message. What's wrong?"

She put down the food and wiped her hands. "Milton, you remember when I got you and Julie together?"

"Oh, no. You want repayment."

"I helped you with your girl problems, you help me with my boy problems."

Milton folded his hands. "If Randy's bothering you again –"

She held up her hands. "No, no, it's not Randy."

"Then who? You know what, Kim, you should probably talk to Jack, he's a lot better with this kind of stuff."

"Well…" Kim played with a silver ring on her right hand. She felt her cheeks heat up a little.

"HOLY CHRISTMAS NUTS! You're in love with Jack, aren't you?" Milton slapped his palms on the table.

"I am not _in love_ with Jack."

"You are, you do! You totally like him. Ooh, Rudy's going to be livid he lost to Joan…"

"What are you talking about?"

"Wh-what are _you_ talking about?"

"Jack."

He pointed triumphantly at her._ "She admits it!"_

Kim shot him a glare, then looked down and played with her falafel balls.

She heard him sigh. "Okay, I'm sorry, Kim. What is the problem, exactly?"

"Well…these past couple months, Jack and I have been getting so much closer, you know?" She shifted in her seat. "Like at any time we're finally going to have our first real date. But it hasn't happened, and now someone else is swooping in and catching him up in her claws." Kim stared through the Plexiglas doors to the courtyard, where Jack and Janelle had just come running in. Jack was holding her glasses out of reach tauntingly, laughing, while Janelle chased him. Her curly, coppery hair shined in the sunlight, and even from this distance Kim swore she could see her eyes glittering.

Milton followed her gaze. "Kim, Janelle's just an old friend. It's normal for them to want to catch up."

"Look at them, she's flirting!"

"Even if she is, there's no way Jack feels the same way about her. It's been what, three, four years? Just give her another chance. She's really nice."

Kim leaned forward and folded her hands on top of the table, very seriously. "You're just saying that because she gives you food."

He grasped his chest in melodramatic horror. "Kimberly! What a horribly atrocious thing to – yeah, you're right."

"Mm-hm." She glanced out the window again and covered her eyes. "Dude, can I sit next to you? I can't watch this anymore."

JACK

Jack jumped onto the ledge of the fountain holding up Janelle's glasses high above his head. She hopped up and down, trying to reach them. He laughed, then turned and began to run to the dojo.

He stopped short and almost fell on his face with an _oomph_ when someone jumped on his back. Janelle clung to him like a monkey. "I'm not getting off until you give me my glasses."

Jack smirked to himself. "Alright, but you asked for it." He grasped her calves and barreled back to the fountain. He hopped in and fell backwards, getting his friend effectively soaked. She shrieked, and let go, worming her way out from under him. He got up and gave her a hand, which she took, then snatched her glasses off his face. Her blue t-shirt clung to her thin frame, and her wet red hair had turned the color of clay. Her breathing was heavy. She looked at him with a kind of wonder on her face, and Jack suddenly became very aware of how close their faces were. He froze.

"Jack, I…" The whisper was feather soft. Janelle reached up and brushed a few strands of hair away from his forehead. Something stirred in the pit of Jack's stomach. She still had that amazed, adoring look in her eyes.

Her stony, stormy, beautiful, grey eyes.

_This is wrong._

Jack moved away from her. "No."

A look of hurt flashed across her face. "What?"

He shook his head. "No, Janelle. Don't."

"Why? Kim?" At his silence, she crossed her arms and her hurt expression was replaced with a kind of angry disbelief. "I can't believe it. What _is_ it about her, Jack? I don't get it. You know, I never thought that you'd be the type to go for one of perfect blonde cheerleaders."

Jack glared at her. _That_ crossed a line. "Kim's not just some cheerleader. We've been friends for a long time, and I trust her to have my back. And she sure is HECK is not perfect."

She snorted. "Right. Name one way she isn't."

"Yeah. She'll beat up anyone in her way in a fit of rage. Sometimes her ego swells to the size of house."

"You fight all the time!" Janelle shouted at him. A few people turned their heads. "That's not healthy for you, Jack!"

Jack started to walk backwards. He didn't say a word.

"Don't you walk away from me!"

He turned around and headed in the other direction. He could still hear his childhood friend yelling after him, but he kept walking.

Jack touched the bracelet on his right wrist.

**_So, I'm sorry for not updating in like, forever. I'm trying to develop the storyline really well, so I took my time. _**

**_By the way, I rewrote and re-uploaded the first chapter. I noticed it was pretty incomplete, so hopefully it'll clarify a few things.  
_**

**_Enjoy, and REVIEW!  
_**

**_Love y'all,  
_**

**_-Reyna S  
_**


End file.
